A very high light gathering efficiency of the microscope objective system is of decisive importance for experiments in fluorescence microscopy. In particular in the case of very weak fluorescence signals, such as those which occur, for example, in 2-photon experiments, the fluorescent light therefore has to be gathered from a solid angle range which is as large as possible. In known microscope objective systems comprising an objective, a high gathering efficiency is achieved by a great numerical aperture, although this requires a very small working distance (distance between the objective and the sample). However, in many cases a great working distance is desired, in particular if the samples have to be manipulated during the experiment.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microscope objective system comprising an objective, which has a very high gathering efficiency and at the same time allows a great working distance.